I TOOK an early morning jog through York this morning with Michael Johnson.

Not to name drop, but yes... the Michael Johnson, the four times Olympic gold medal sprinter.

Everyone needs a running buddy and I chose him when I decided to dust down my trainers and hit the pavements again.

He's great. He gives me lots of tips and is full of encouragement. I've learned not to bob up and down while I run ("it's a waste of energy" says Mike (we're on first name terms now). "Imagine you are running next to a hedge, and there is someone on the other side. They shouldn't be able to tell whether you are walking or running," he says in that deep, almost hypnotic voice of his.

As for breathing, he reminds me to inhale slowly and deeply, in time with my steps. And crucially: "Don't go too fast – you don't want to run out of steam."

My going too fast is something Mike will never have to worry about. If anything, I am a slow-coach, the tortoise as opposed to the hare. But we all know what happened to the tortoise in the end, so I guess Mike is right again.

We are seven weeks into a running programme and I have been hooking up with Mike regularly. At first, we went back to basics: just running for one minute and then walking for 90 seconds, slowly and steadily building it up until I could run longer distances, with shorter gaps in between.

This morning was a breakthrough. I ran for 25 minutes and am getting ever nearer my goal of 30 minutes – which is about 5k or just over three miles.

Mike is as chuffed as I am. He tells me I am doing really well and to keep going.

And he's done the same for thousands of other would-be runners up and down the country.

Mike, you see, is one of the coaches on the BBC's Get Inspired Couch To 5k running app.

There are many such apps, all designed for beginner runners to literally get them off the couch and running for three miles.

For novices, that sounds daunting, but the programme is brilliant in that it guides you slowly through all the stages. Distances increase slowly each week – and if you are struggling or stuck at one point, then you can simply repeat that week until things get easier.

And they do. I used to run 5ks many moons ago – and it is more than ten years since I have been running them regularly. So I felt like a beginner again. Looking back to October, when I started the programme, I remember desperately looking at the dashboard on the treadmill at the gym watching the clock tick over 60 seconds so I could slow down to a walk.

I feel like a different person now, and running up to 25 minutes is feeling pretty comfortable. It's not all been straightforward. I have had some niggles along the way, an aching hip and a tight Achilles. I make sure to stretch after each run and I have a foam roller at home which I use to massage the tension in my calf muscles and hamstrings. I found running on the treadmill put more of an impact on my joints than the pavement or the riverside towpath, so I now only run outside. And I follow Mike's strict advice to always start and finish with a brisk five-minute walk which, he insists, helps prevent injury, as well as having at least a day off between runs.

Running outside, of course, has had its challenges in recent weeks. I've run through mud (after flooding), icy pavements (after sub-zero temperatures) and in the dark, both before and after work.

Which brings me back to my early-morning run. I didn't fancy heading down the towpath in the dark, so took a route through town. It felt special running through York just after 7am as the city is starting to wake up. You are sharing the streets with delivery vans and drivers, but sometimes you are all alone, with York's beautiful buildings for your eyes only.

So if you are thinking of getting fit in the New Year, I'd recommend getting hooked up with my mate Mike.